SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Reggie Theus got barely more than 100 games to lead the Kings before they headed in yet another direction with yet another new head coach.
Theus was fired by Sacramento on Monday after a 6-18 start to his second season with the team. Assistant coach Kenny Natt took over the last-place Kings and guided them to a 118-103 victory over the Timberwolves on Monday night.
Natt, a first-time head coach who has the job on an interim basis, is the fourth coach in less than three years for the Kings, who are in disarray after a prolonged run as one of the NBA’s elite clubs earlier in the decade.
Assistant coach Chuck Person was fired along with Theus, who went 44-62 in his brief tenure with Sacramento.
The Kings lost 10 of 11 to fall into the Pacific Division cellar, with only a win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the last 3 1/2 weeks before defeating the Timberwolves. Sacramento’s 24-point home loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday night — the ninth loss in 10 games at Arco Arena — was Theus’ final game.
“It was a great experience, and I just wish I could have seen it through,” Theus said. “For it to have been better, a lot of things would have had to have been different. . . . I think we were entertaining. Good and bad, when people came to games, it was fun.”
Howard returns to Mavs
DALLAS — Mavericks forward Josh Howard returned against the Nuggets after being inactive for 11 games because of a sprained left ankle.
Howard didn’t start but came off the bench late in the first quarter. He finished with seven points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Coach Rick Carlisle said Howard, who entered as Dallas’ No. 2 scorer at 20.3 points per game, will be eased back into the starting lineup.
The Associated Press
